Los Angeles daily herald., 1887-07-15
Mr. Georges Theory.

Mrs GeOTSe7S Injury
A disciple of Mr.. George takes us
roundly to task for our remarks
upon contribution of that gem
tleman in the last number of the
North American RerieU. In that arti-
Gle Mr.. George takes the ground that
his new party must grow into strength
and importance because it is founded
upon an essential, living principle
the common ownership of land. The
lands being nationalized, they alone
would be the subject of taxation, and
rs the control of this taxation would
he in the hands of the people, there is
no limit to the amount that might
he imposed. We deduced the idea
from Mr.. Georges plan that if the
control of land was left with the
owners, and the taxes were increased,
that the owners would relegate this
increased taxation over to the
people either as renters or con-
sumers. Without further explanation,
this would seem to be the true out
come of MIR. Georges theory in that
article, and we said that "unless he
has some intermediate idea explana-
tory of his grand idea, we do not see
that his new party is going to relieve
OF help anybody" But let us look
more closely into Mr.. Georges theo-
ries. If his principles are sound they
will bear the closest scrutiny; and if
they are not sound and do not lead to
the conclusions he claims, they ought
to be exploded. In pages 364 and 365
Of his work entitled Progress and
Poverty" he says: 'It is not neces-
sary to confscate land; it is only
necessary to confiscate rent. We
already take some rent in tax
alton. We have only to make
some changes in the modes of taxa
tion to take it all" He would
"abolish all taxation, save that upon
land values" "The simple and SOW
ereign remedy which will raise wages,
increase the earnings OF capital, extir-
pate pauperism, abolish poverty, give
remunerative employment to whose
ever wishes it, afford free scope to
human powers, lessen crime, elevate
morals and taste and intelligence,
purify government, and carry civiliza-
tion to yet nobler heights, is to appro-
pirate rent by taxation" If Mr..
Georges plan will accomplish all this,
it is the grandest scheme ever
evolved out of the brain of man, and
ought to be accepted and approved by
every lover of the human race. The
aggregate amount of ground rent must
be enormous if it absorbs all the
increased production of labor, aided
by capital in the shape OF
labor-saving machinery. If We
can find out the actual amount OF
the item of rent in the United States,
then we can see whether it possesses
the Importance which Mr.. George at
taches to it. Ii it does not, then he
has not struck the right theory to al
leviate and better the condition OF the
masses. A writer in the Forum furn-
ishes us with data to test this question.
According to the last census of the
United States the total assessment of
realestate and personal property was
$16,902 ,993, ,543, OF which $l3 ,O35, 1885,
925 represented real estate. Real es-
tate includes land and improvements.
The ratio OF land to buildings in Mas
sachusetts is nearly as Al is to SO.
Taking this ratio and applying it to
the East ern and Middle States, and
varying it to suit the less densely set
tied States and Territories, and there
would be total in the Union OF &c.
437, 900, 900 for buildings and OF $6,-
592, 900 900 for building sites and
ayr icultural land. As the rate
of assessment is generally about
two-thirds of the market value, the
value of all the land in the country,
that was taxed in 1880, would have
been about $4,000, 100000. II we
should count the rent on this land at
4 per cent, we would have less than
$4OO, ,O00, 900 per annum, or rs for each
;nh abitant, or little more than 2
cents per day. This would certainly
not add greatly to the well-being of
the masses; and it certainly does not
hold any strikingly large relation to the
annual income of the total population.
Mr.. Joseph Nimmo, Chief of the Ma
fional Bureau of Statistics, estimates
the total productions Of the United
States for 1884 to have been $9,S17,-
9OO, 1852, which is within fraction of
the entire land values of the country,
M got at by the taxation OF 1880.
But a number Of items, such as the
material used in production, the feed
used in raising live stock, etc., must
be deducted from the total of produc-
ton, and the actual income left to the
people left would be 1900, ,000, 900, or